Music: {allcanada} Kesler powers Canucks past Predators

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

{allcanada} Kesler powers Canucks past Predators

A Charlie Brown Christmas - Peanuts' Charlie Brown

Ryan Kesler scored twice in the third period to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-1 victory against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, giving them three wins on a four-game road trip.

Kesler broke a 1-1 tie after the Canucks pressured the Predators in their own zone and Jason Garrison was able to step into a slap shot from the left point that was stopped by goaltender Marek Mazanec. The rebound caromed into a tangle of bodies in front of the net, and Kesler found the puck and banked a shot off Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis and into the net at 7:37.

He added a power-play goal with 5:45 remaining, backhanding a loose puck into the net after Garrison's right-point shot was partially blocked but slid toward the front of the net.

Kesler leads the Canucks with 14 goals and has back-to-back two-goal games. He scored twice Sunday in a 3-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Eleven of his goals have come in the Canucks' 17 road games.

Vancouver's Brad Richardson and Nashville's Colin Wilson scored 30 seconds apart in the second period.

Roberto Luongo, playing for the first time since he was hooked in the second period against the New York Rangers on Saturday, stopped 30 shots in the Canucks' fourth consecutive victory against Nashville. Mazanec, named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for November earlier in the day, made 30 saves for the Predators.

Nashville has lost three in a row, all at home.

Neither team generated much offense in a scoreless, penalty-free first period that saw the best scoring chances crammed into the final few minutes.

Nashville's Nick Spaling stole the puck in the left corner and fed a wide-open Craig Smith in front, but Luongo stopped him from close in with 2:19 left, then managed to keep the rebound out of the net despite Smith batting away at the loose puck.

On the next shift, Kesler swatted a loose puck out of midair and off the crossbar. With 50 seconds left, Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis whipped a backhander from the slot that beat Mazanec but rang off the right post.

The Canucks outshot the Predators 18-14 in a wild second period in which two goals were scored in a half-minute span.

Richardson gave the Canucks the lead at 15:24. He was standing to the left of Mazanec when he picked up a rebound and banked it into the net off the goaltender for his sixth goal of the season.

Vancouver could not enjoy the lead for very long. Luongo stopped Roman Josi's straightaway slapper from just inside the blue line, but the puck came to Patric Hornqvist in the slot. Instead of shooting, Hornqvist drew Luongo and the defense to him, then slid the puck to his right, where Wilson was all alone and easily dunked his fifth of the season into the half-empty net.

It's a Wonderful Life